Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelly Hancock and Lisa Cowell Shams. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kelly and Lisa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.
[KELLY] The idea behind Jeuje is simple. Fashion as self-expression, not cookie-cutter adherence to a trend. Mainstream fashion and trendsetters — seem to assume that everyone wants to look the same. In truth, while we may lean into a certain trend, at our heart we all want our look to be reflective of who we are, what the occasion is and what our mood might be. I mean, take cowboy boots. Clearly, they are a thing right now – and we love them. But loving cowboy boots doesn’t mean you want to look just like everyone else – so we created a modern spur to add to your boots to make them unique to you.
A trend may inspire you – take that inspiration and make it your own.
[LISA] In fashion two ways to make a truly personal statement are Accessories and Jewelry. The accessories you use, the jewelry you wear are every person’s opportunity to say something about Who they Are and What their Mood is. This is why we call Jeuje “The Art of the Accessory.”
We did not set out to start a business. We were literally just two friends doing some window shopping — and we wandered into a very high end boutique – a household haut couture name that we won’t mention. They were showing off a new black handbag in a style they have carried for years – with one small variation – a decorative chain with faux pearls on it. And it simply hit us in the most obvious way possible. We all have black handbags and many of them look pretty similar across brands – but what was actually interesting was the chain….the adornment.
[KELLY] But the cost was very prohibitive and frankly the quality was only OK and then – well – what if your mood today is pearls, but then you are in a tiger’s eye mood tomorrow – or what if you wanted to take that same bag on an island vacation to a place that called out for turquoise?
We want to give people a really high quality product that can completely elevate everything from a very modestly priced handbag or take that higher end piece and make it truly unique.
The same is true for phone cases, boots, high tops, and hats.
We offer up some suggestions on how to style our accessory adornments but they are truly meant to be multifunctional and how you “jeuje” is completely up to you.
This is the same approach to our fine jewelry line. Again – quality is paramount. 14 karat gold, pearls, precious and semi-precious gemstones. But, we really encourage our clients to use the jewelry to help tell their own story. Layering, mixing metals, not being afraid of color. And if you need some help, we are happy to set up a consultation to show you some options and how they might work together. People have leaned into department store or personal clothing stylists for years…Jewelry deserves the same personalized attention.
Kelly and Lisa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
[LISA] Our foundational truth for Jeuje is that fashion – and especially jewelry and accessories – is not one size fits all. It is personal, it is self-expression. Jeuje is about giving YOU the tools to better express your own individuality, your own sense of style – or maybe even your mood on any particular day.
[KELLY] And the quality has to be there. Our accessory adornments are natural gemstones like turquoise or tiger’s eye or African Jade….or they are Majorica pearl in a variety of colors. Our fine jewelry is truly fine jewelry. Gold – not gold-plated. 14 or 18 karat gold. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls, turquoise – natural stones.
We make or curate the pieces here in Los Angeles – hand selecting our stones for our jewelry and the gemstones and Majorica pearl beads for our accessory adornments – that are then handcrafted locally. This is a big deal to us. We make every piece, choose every element as if one of us was the end user. If we wouldn’t wear it or wouldn’t be happy to own it – we simply won’t sell it.
[LISA] And – here is the big one – we are all about great quality — but couple that with fair pricing.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
[KELLY] We have been friends for over 20 years — but it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. We met at work – and to be perfectly honest….we didn’t hit it off. But, in the category of remaining open to other people – we happened to sit next to one another at a company event and ended up talking most of the night. We discovered how much we simply like one another and that was the beginning of more than two decades of friendship – and now a business partnership.
Because we have already worked together, we not only love one another – we have such respect for one another’s perspective and work ethic. It is not unusual for us to see things differently – but that is a huge strength. A willingness to have slightly different positions, working through that – it is really about that respect we have and the history we share.
And honestly, very few decisions in business are lethal and knowing that is very freeing. We have room to make mistakes, grow from them and move on.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
[LISA] Jeuje is a new brand. But from both our personal and our business experience, we knew Jeuje needed to be online, on social media – but also there need to be in-person opportunities to connect directly with customers and potential customers.
We have gotten incredible advice about this from friends, colleagues and friends of friends. People are very generous with their expertise if you are willing to ask – and willing to listen. Not everything will resonate immediately – or even at all – but you always walk away with something worthwhile when you sit down with those who have walked this path before.
[KELLY] We are up on our own site through Shopify – and our experience there is generally positive. They really are geared to working with all sizes of business – even newbies like ours.
But sure – we made mistakes, and we will make more. But mistakes are part of the game. For example, when we first launched our site we didn’t really understand the value of professional photography – but that was something we fixed almost immediately. In hindsight it was so obvious.
Also, new retail brands need to understand that it isn’t “build it and the customer will come.” The direct interaction with our product is really important. We actively look for opportunities – and have done everything from music festivals and local markets – to trunk shows and pop ups. That direct connection with the customer not only gives the feedback on the product – but also has already taught us a great deal about really important things — like product mix, merchandising, display, and about how the customer interacts with Jeuje’s accessories and jewelry.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jeuje.co
- Instagram: @jeujeitup
- Facebook: Jeuje
Image Credits
Robert Staley Photography